The Debates that Never Were

By the early 1960’s, it was obvious that television and the daily news coverage were changing politics and how our candidates were being elected.  It wasn’t an accident that Disney had created campaign ads for Eisenhower or that it was a televised presidential debate had catapulted Kennedy into the White House ahead of the front-runner, Nixon.  Nor was it an accident that, just 20 years later, an actor-turned-politician was elected president.

Increasingly, campaigns became more about optics and sound bites and less about issues and policy.  John F. Kennedy, despite being an obvious benefactor of this trend, (to his credit) wanted to change the trend and bring back the days of whistle-stop campaigns and issue-driven elections.

By 1963, the upcoming presidential election was obviously going to be a contest between Democrat Kennedy—who would be seeking reelection—and Republican Barry Goldwater.  Even though Kennedy was a New England liberal and Goldwater was a Western conservative, the two men were close friends.  Despite being political rivals, the two men often discussed issues, with Goldwater even advising the President about how his policies were being received in various parts of the country. 

Simply put, the two friends had agreed to disagree on some issues and could still discuss ideas on which they were diametrically opposed.  This is a skill that has lately become as rare as impartial news reporting, but still exists in a few isolated cases.  My friend Jack, for example, despite being a Yankee who will be embarrassed beyond measure for being mentioned in this blog, differs with me politically on most issues, but in our Laphroaig-laced discussions, we almost always reach a mutually acceptable compromise.   We can do this because there are no overpaid talking heads deliberately twisting our conversations into messages that will fit on a bumper sticker. 

President Kennedy longed for the country to return campaigning back to the days of the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, when the two rival candidates for the Senate traveled over 4,000 miles, debating in each Illinois congressional district.  Though the two men did not travel together (Douglas traveled in style with a private railway car that was  equipped with a cannon that was fired at each stop to signal his arrival while Lincoln traveled by coach and boat), they met frequently and had known each other for years.

During the seven debates, the first candidate would speak for an hour, followed by a 90-minute rebuttal.  Finally, the first candidate would end the debate with 30-minute closing remarks.  The two candidates alternated who started first at each of the seven debates.  In an age before television, the three-hour debates were considered great entertainment and attracted large crowds.

President Kennedy proposed to Senator Goldwater that the two men should join together in the upcoming presidential campaign, traveling in the same plane, The Caroline, owned by Kennedy (The Caroline was the very first presidential campaign plane).  They would stay in the same hotels, debating each other at stops across the country.  These debates would be a substantive discussion of issues and policies, not media stunts. 

The logistics of such a campaign were still being discussed when Kennedy was assassinated, ending the dream of holding such debates.  Demoralized, Goldwater even announced that he was dropping out of the race, though months later his party successfully convinced him to reenter it.

There was sharp contrast between the friendship of Kennedy and Goldwater, who respected each other, and the visceral hatred between Goldwater and Lyndon Johnson.  There were no presidential debates in 1964, which makes that race the only presidential campaign since 1960 that has lacked a televised debate.  Absent the cordiality of friendly debates, the race once more became a media circus in which discussion of policy was replaced with sound bites, partisan attacks, and misleading television ads that featured more emotion than honesty.

During the 1964 presidential campaign, the most infamous advertisement was the "Daisy" commercial aired by Lyndon B. Johnson’s campaign.  This 60-second spot, which aired only once, on September 7, 1964, depicted a young girl counting petals on a daisy, followed by a chilling sequence of a nuclear explosion.  The commercial was designed to evoke fear and highlight the perceived danger of Barry Goldwater’s stance on nuclear weapons and his perceived willingness to use them.  The imagery of the atomic blast was a powerful and visceral representation of the stakes in the election, aimed at convincing voters that Goldwater's aggressive rhetoric would lead to catastrophic consequences.

The ad never mentioned Goldwater and was only aired as a paid political advertisement once, but was played repeatedly by news programs.  Within a week of the paid spot, it would have been difficult to find a single voter who was unaware of the advertisement.  You can watch the ad here.

The "Daisy" commercial had a profound effect on the electorate by playing on the public's fears of nuclear war.  It successfully framed Goldwater as a dangerous extremist whose policies could escalate into a global catastrophe.  This dramatic and emotional appeal resonated with voters, contributing significantly to Johnson's landslide victory.  The ad underscored the power of television in shaping public perception and so it became a defining moment in campaign advertising, demonstrating how fear and emotional appeals could influence electoral outcomes.

Whether or not Kennedy would have been successful in changing the format of presidential debates is one of those “What If” games that can kill hours and drive historians insane.  Kennedy seems to have been committed to the idea, but as a politician he was also committed to the idea of winning.  In addition, traveling with Goldwater would have inevitably elevated Goldwater in the eyes of voters.

Kennedy wanted to change the nature of presidential debates before the trend of media-driven campaigns became fixed.  It is too late now for such an idea to take hold.  Presidential campaigns have become billion-dollar businesses in which far too many people have a vested interest in continuing their particular partisan circuses.  All we can do now is keep buying tickets to the show and continue watching the clowns.